Canada earned their first-ever qualification for the T20 World Cup with a convincing 39-run victory over Bermuda in Hamilton last Saturday. This win secured their place in next year’s tournament, marking a historic achievement for Canadian cricket.
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Canada chose to bat first after winning the toss and managed to score 132/4 in 18 overs (restricted due to rain). Canada reached this total mostly thanks to Navneet Dhaliwal’s impressive innings of 45 runs from 38 balls. In Bermuda’s chase, Nikhil Dutta, with his off-spin, proved crucial as he dismissed the key players Kamau Leverock and Delray Rawlins in the same over.
Bermuda, initially at a promising 52/1, quickly stumbled to 55/3 following the double setback. Unfortunately, they couldn’t recover from this setback, losing Terryn Fray shortly after Saad’s left-arm orthodox bowling. The Canadian team’s bowlers Kaleem Sana and Jeremy Gordon whipped up the rest of Bermuda’s batting lineup with figures of 3/4 (3.5 overs)and 3/6 (2 overs) respectively.
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Canada will be making their debut appearance at the Men’s T20 World Cup, although they have previous experience in global cricket tournaments, having participated in the 50-over Cricket World Cup. Their first appearance in the 50-over World Cup dates back to 1979, and they subsequently qualified for the 2003, 2007, and 2011 editions of the tournament.
In the Americas qualifying for the T20 World Cup, a total of six teams took part, including Argentina and the Bahamas, which participated in sub-regional matches earlier this year. After progressing from the sub-regional stage, the Cayman Islands and Panama secured the third and fourth positions, respectively, in the regional final.
In the qualifying group, which followed a double round-robin format, both Canada and Bermuda ended up with the same number of points. This group also included Panama and the Cayman Islands as competitors. However, Canada managed to advance to the T20 World Cup due to their superior run rate, showcasing their strong performance throughout the qualifiers.
The ninth edition of the T20 World Cup now expanded to include 20 teams, is scheduled to take place in the United States and the West Indies in June. This expansion opens up exciting opportunities for cricket fans worldwide to witness the sport’s top talent in action on a global stage.
